1
00:00:05,115 --> 00:00:09,206
"Pastor Tim, can you please do commentary
2
00:00:09,206 --> 00:00:13,177
and give good advice on the subject
3
00:00:13,177 --> 00:00:16,778
of today's young Calvinists
4
00:00:16,778 --> 00:00:18,400
being more loving
5
00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,687
and bearing fruit of the Spirit?
6
00:00:20,687 --> 00:00:22,660
To form a question out of it,
7
00:00:22,660 --> 00:00:27,924
is it okay to appear rather
mean and unloving
8
00:00:27,924 --> 00:00:30,506
while being a Christian who identifies
9
00:00:30,506 --> 00:00:35,257
as a Calvinist?"
10
00:00:35,257 --> 00:00:39,146
And then he writes a lot
of other things here,
11
00:00:39,146 --> 00:00:43,225
but at the end he says this:
12
00:00:43,225 --> 00:00:46,461
"I recently went to a Calvinism debate
13
00:00:46,461 --> 00:00:48,211
by James White.
14
00:00:48,211 --> 00:00:49,788
Everyone I met there,
15
00:00:49,788 --> 00:00:52,495
I brought up the points you made
16
00:00:52,495 --> 00:00:59,049
in your 'Is Theology Your Idol?' video.
17
00:00:59,049 --> 00:01:02,490
I friended more than 50 people on Facebook
18
00:01:02,490 --> 00:01:04,492
that went to the debate,
19
00:01:04,492 --> 00:01:06,587
and talked to almost all of them
20
00:01:06,587 --> 00:01:08,539
on Facebook Messenger.
21
00:01:08,539 --> 00:01:10,769
I had dialogue with them
in a very natural,
22
00:01:10,769 --> 00:01:14,382
non-confrontational way about this subject
23
00:01:14,382 --> 00:01:19,446
and how I've repented,
24
00:01:19,446 --> 00:01:23,267
how my mind has changed.
25
00:01:23,267 --> 00:01:25,468
I sent them all your video.
26
00:01:25,468 --> 00:01:27,182
A good chunk were grateful
27
00:01:27,182 --> 00:01:29,697
and told me they felt convicted as well,
28
00:01:29,697 --> 00:01:31,202
but there were others
29
00:01:31,202 --> 00:01:33,995
who were talking in a scholarly language
30
00:01:33,995 --> 00:01:35,848
trying to stand up for continuing
31
00:01:35,848 --> 00:01:37,899
to appear mean and cold,
32
00:01:37,899 --> 00:01:40,957
and trying to say Scripture
doesn't tell us otherwise.
33
00:01:40,957 --> 00:01:43,008
Some of these guys cuss
34
00:01:43,008 --> 00:01:54,761
and are getting Ph.D.'s at Bible college."
35
00:01:54,761 --> 00:01:58,053
Tim: So the mean and cold ones
36
00:01:58,053 --> 00:02:07,716
are "cussers" as well, I guess.
37
00:02:07,716 --> 00:02:10,598
But do you know that not long ago -
38
00:02:10,598 --> 00:02:12,434
it's been some years now,
39
00:02:12,434 --> 00:02:15,471
but Time Magazine ran an article called,
40
00:02:15,471 --> 00:02:20,542
"Ten Ideas Changing the World Right Now."
41
00:02:20,542 --> 00:02:25,337
And the third on the list was Calvinism.
42
00:02:25,337 --> 00:02:27,066
This new Calvinism.
43
00:02:27,066 --> 00:02:40,488
We've talked about the
young restless reformed.
44
00:02:40,488 --> 00:02:41,918
What do you think?
45
00:02:41,918 --> 00:02:44,520
Mean?
46
00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,125
Can we justify being mean?
47
00:02:47,125 --> 00:02:51,476
Let's ask this:
48
00:02:51,476 --> 00:02:54,505
This guy has a concern
49
00:02:54,505 --> 00:03:00,710
that there are folks
in the Calvinistic circles
50
00:03:00,710 --> 00:03:03,728
that are mean.
51
00:03:03,728 --> 00:03:07,264
Now rather than just
jumping on that bandwagon
52
00:03:07,264 --> 00:03:09,481
and assuming that what
he's saying is right
53
00:03:09,481 --> 00:03:11,087
and going to answer it,
54
00:03:11,087 --> 00:03:19,134
is there a sense that that's right?
55
00:03:19,134 --> 00:03:26,780
What can you say about Calvinism
56
00:03:26,780 --> 00:03:29,125
and those who profess it?
57
00:03:29,125 --> 00:03:40,863
And churches that hold
to the doctrines of grace?
58
00:03:40,863 --> 00:03:43,390
I mean, just from your own experience,
59
00:03:43,390 --> 00:03:47,842
would you say he's right at all?
60
00:03:47,842 --> 00:03:49,954
I mean, he says, even in those
61
00:03:49,954 --> 00:03:51,504
who went to that debate,
62
00:03:51,504 --> 00:03:55,278
he says many of the people responded well.
63
00:03:55,278 --> 00:03:57,701
The video that he was sharing with them
64
00:03:57,701 --> 00:04:05,407
was basically a video -
65
00:04:05,407 --> 00:04:08,701
were you taping then?
66
00:04:08,701 --> 00:04:11,060
James: That was 8 years ago.
67
00:04:11,060 --> 00:04:14,750
Tim: Eight years ago?
68
00:04:14,750 --> 00:04:22,646
On theology being our idol.
69
00:04:22,646 --> 00:04:25,153
And so what would I have said in there
70
00:04:25,153 --> 00:04:27,315
that he would be making a point
71
00:04:27,315 --> 00:04:33,432
with these people?
72
00:04:33,432 --> 00:04:36,881
I think it had to do with priority.
73
00:04:36,881 --> 00:04:39,297
Where your theology becomes
74
00:04:39,297 --> 00:04:43,279
the most important thing over and above
75
00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:46,245
perhaps the things that Christ says
76
00:04:46,245 --> 00:04:49,394
are the weightier matters of the law.
77
00:04:49,394 --> 00:04:51,422
That's not to say that doctrine
78
00:04:51,422 --> 00:04:54,761
isn't a weighty matter.
79
00:04:54,761 --> 00:04:58,364
That doesn't mean that truth
isn't a weighty matter.
80
00:04:58,364 --> 00:05:00,055
But what we do with it,
81
00:05:00,055 --> 00:05:02,020
how we respond with it,
82
00:05:02,020 --> 00:05:04,470
how we react towards other people
83
00:05:04,470 --> 00:05:07,235
because of what we believe,
84
00:05:07,235 --> 00:05:14,101
we never want to neglect
the weighty matters.
85
00:05:14,101 --> 00:05:23,160
So, what makes Calvinists mean?
86
00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:24,137
(from the room)
87
00:05:24,137 --> 00:05:27,000
I feel like sometimes people confuse
88
00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,561
God's wrath when you talk about it
89
00:05:29,561 --> 00:05:32,417
as coming off as mean.
90
00:05:32,417 --> 00:05:35,651
That's what I've kind of
experienced in the past.
91
00:05:35,651 --> 00:05:38,311
So it's like don't talk
about the wrath of God.
92
00:05:38,311 --> 00:05:41,174
Talk about grace.
93
00:05:41,174 --> 00:05:44,768
So I don't know if that would be it.
94
00:05:44,768 --> 00:05:51,310
Tim: Here's something to think about.
95
00:05:51,310 --> 00:05:56,919
I know years ago, back in 1996,
96
00:05:56,919 --> 00:06:03,798
Brother Andy brought a series on missions,
97
00:06:03,798 --> 00:06:11,497
and he did one message on reasons why
98
00:06:11,497 --> 00:06:13,856
those in reformed circles
99
00:06:13,856 --> 00:06:19,642
are not more involved in missions.
100
00:06:19,642 --> 00:06:23,099
And one of the things that he brought up
101
00:06:23,099 --> 00:06:32,375
was isolationism.
102
00:06:32,375 --> 00:06:35,000
Do you know the very nature
103
00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:39,504
of believing in election
104
00:06:39,504 --> 00:06:44,886
makes those who believe
in the doctrines of grace
105
00:06:44,886 --> 00:06:49,507
very narrow?
106
00:06:49,507 --> 00:06:51,950
It comes across that way.
107
00:06:51,950 --> 00:06:54,633
You're very narrow.
108
00:06:54,633 --> 00:06:56,453
You've got this elect people.
109
00:06:56,453 --> 00:06:58,677
I remember as a young believer,
110
00:06:58,677 --> 00:07:01,022
I had somebody very
close to me in my family
111
00:07:01,022 --> 00:07:04,966
say, "I hope you're going to be happy
112
00:07:04,966 --> 00:07:09,613
in heaven all by yourself."
113
00:07:09,613 --> 00:07:15,193
But the reality is if we
understand Scripture,
114
00:07:15,193 --> 00:07:19,766
we understand that they
asked the Lord one day,
115
00:07:19,766 --> 00:07:23,451
"Are there many or are there few
116
00:07:23,451 --> 00:07:27,157
that are going to be saved?"
117
00:07:27,157 --> 00:07:29,748
"Strive to enter in," He said.
118
00:07:29,748 --> 00:07:31,926
"For many are going to seek to enter in
119
00:07:31,926 --> 00:07:34,910
and will not be able."
120
00:07:34,910 --> 00:07:37,249
We recognize that both
121
00:07:37,249 --> 00:07:39,057
coming at it from the human side
122
00:07:39,057 --> 00:07:41,569
and the striving and the narrow gate,
123
00:07:41,569 --> 00:07:42,877
there's few.
124
00:07:42,877 --> 00:07:45,233
We recognize from God's perspective
125
00:07:45,233 --> 00:07:47,196
and the sovereign side of this
126
00:07:47,196 --> 00:07:50,767
that there are an elect people.
127
00:07:50,767 --> 00:07:55,631
It can seem very narrow.
128
00:07:55,631 --> 00:08:01,699
And that's not the same as isolation.
129
00:08:01,699 --> 00:08:05,528
I think what happens
130
00:08:05,528 --> 00:08:09,256
is that we get people
131
00:08:09,256 --> 00:08:13,805
who come to the doctrines of grace,
132
00:08:13,805 --> 00:08:22,103
and they settle into their
little reformed communities,
133
00:08:22,103 --> 00:08:27,543
and they basically cut
themselves off from the world.
134
00:08:27,543 --> 00:08:33,287
And I can remember visiting a church
135
00:08:33,287 --> 00:08:40,780
up in Kalamazoo that was reformed.
136
00:08:40,780 --> 00:08:42,460
And I doubt people a block away
137
00:08:42,460 --> 00:08:44,685
knew the church was there.
138
00:08:44,685 --> 00:08:46,215
And that was kind of how I felt
139
00:08:46,215 --> 00:08:48,059
about many of the reformed churches.
140
00:08:48,059 --> 00:08:49,148
People would come -
141
00:08:49,148 --> 00:08:51,831
sometimes they would
drive from fairly far away
142
00:08:51,831 --> 00:08:56,399
and they would
conglomerate in this building,
143
00:08:56,399 --> 00:08:58,776
and then they would
go back out again.
144
00:08:58,776 --> 00:09:01,094
But you just didn't get a real feel
145
00:09:01,094 --> 00:09:07,174
that the people knew they were there.
146
00:09:07,174 --> 00:09:11,354
This idea of meanness...
147
00:09:11,354 --> 00:09:15,010
I think the thing I talked
about in that video
148
00:09:15,010 --> 00:09:20,500
was just about how knowledge puffs up.
149
00:09:20,500 --> 00:09:23,943
There is a knowledge that humbles us,
150
00:09:23,943 --> 00:09:26,906
and there is a knowledge that puffs up.
151
00:09:26,906 --> 00:09:30,802
And what can happen is people come
152
00:09:30,802 --> 00:09:33,262
to these doctrines -
153
00:09:33,262 --> 00:09:35,513
it's like God has shed some light
154
00:09:35,513 --> 00:09:41,312
that you kind of feel like
maybe other people don't see,
155
00:09:41,312 --> 00:09:44,340
and then you feel superior.
156
00:09:44,340 --> 00:09:47,927
And then you look down at people.
157
00:09:47,927 --> 00:09:50,085
And it's more about what I know.
158
00:09:50,085 --> 00:09:52,784
If you recognize what he said there,
159
00:09:52,784 --> 00:09:56,206
he said it was like there
were these scholarly guys
160
00:09:56,206 --> 00:09:57,928
who are getting Ph.D.'s -
161
00:09:57,928 --> 00:10:01,650
and you don't want to
stereotype that all the Ph.D.'s
162
00:10:01,650 --> 00:10:03,758
are mean and arrogant.
163
00:10:03,758 --> 00:10:10,194
But it is interesting that Jesus told us
164
00:10:10,194 --> 00:10:13,977
something about titles.
165
00:10:13,977 --> 00:10:17,294
And really that we should
call one another "brother."
166
00:10:17,294 --> 00:10:18,771
And there are a lot of guys
167
00:10:18,771 --> 00:10:23,618
that really like to be called "doctor."
168
00:10:23,618 --> 00:10:26,158
I think Christians probably should leave
169
00:10:26,158 --> 00:10:29,157
those titles behind.
170
00:10:29,157 --> 00:10:33,342
Because it tends to make
men feel superior.
171
00:10:33,342 --> 00:10:36,143
Calling somebody "doctor" is probably
172
00:10:36,143 --> 00:10:41,819
the reformed way of
calling somebody "father."
173
00:10:41,819 --> 00:10:43,586
It's like they would be better off
174
00:10:43,586 --> 00:10:48,239
if they left that title behind.
175
00:10:48,239 --> 00:10:50,216
And I recognize some people use it
176
00:10:50,216 --> 00:10:57,395
to show respect.
177
00:10:57,395 --> 00:11:00,154
But brethren, as Calvinists;
178
00:11:00,154 --> 00:11:04,114
as those who hold to
the doctrines of grace,
179
00:11:04,114 --> 00:11:07,729
brethren, you know what we
don't ever want to forget?
180
00:11:07,729 --> 00:11:10,207
I've been thinking a lot
about these verses.
181
00:11:10,207 --> 00:11:12,203
There's various of them.
182
00:11:12,203 --> 00:11:19,309
How about somebody read Matthew 23:23?
183
00:11:19,309 --> 00:11:20,149
You know this.
184
00:11:20,149 --> 00:11:23,752
Jesus rebuking the Pharisees.
185
00:11:23,752 --> 00:11:25,983
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees!
186
00:11:25,983 --> 00:11:27,487
Hypocrites!
187
00:11:27,487 --> 00:11:30,178
For you tithe mint and dill and cumin
188
00:11:30,178 --> 00:11:33,152
and have neglected the
weightier matters of the law,
189
00:11:33,152 --> 00:11:35,261
justice and mercy and faithfulness."
190
00:11:35,261 --> 00:11:37,903
Tim: Justice and mercy and faithfulness.
191
00:11:37,903 --> 00:11:39,989
And sometimes I think about people -
192
00:11:39,989 --> 00:11:44,300
certain people - they can dot every "i"
193
00:11:44,300 --> 00:11:46,725
and cross every "t"
194
00:11:46,725 --> 00:11:50,114
but they neglect the weightier matters.
195
00:11:50,114 --> 00:11:51,111
Mercy.
196
00:11:51,111 --> 00:11:52,729
Can you think of any other verses
197
00:11:52,729 --> 00:11:57,143
that are similar to that?
198
00:11:57,143 --> 00:12:01,064
Do you remember when Matthew or Levi
199
00:12:01,064 --> 00:12:02,809
had Jesus over?
200
00:12:02,809 --> 00:12:07,071
And Jesus confronted the same Pharisees?
201
00:12:07,071 --> 00:12:09,621
Do you remember what He said there?
202
00:12:09,621 --> 00:12:18,771
Where's that? Matthew 9?
203
00:12:18,771 --> 00:12:21,470
Mercy and not sacrifice.
204
00:12:21,470 --> 00:12:27,690
And then what it is? Matthew 12?
205
00:12:27,690 --> 00:12:32,417
Oh, that's the one where His disciples
206
00:12:32,417 --> 00:12:34,440
were going through and picking
207
00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:38,898
the grain on the Sabbath.
208
00:12:38,898 --> 00:12:49,265
And what did Jesus respond there with?
209
00:12:49,265 --> 00:12:51,332
Anybody remember there?
210
00:12:51,332 --> 00:12:55,362
(unintelligible)
211
00:12:55,362 --> 00:12:58,880
I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
212
00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,638
And then you remember
the account right after that?
213
00:13:01,638 --> 00:13:03,370
There's a man with a withered hand
214
00:13:03,370 --> 00:13:04,487
and He brings him out.
215
00:13:04,487 --> 00:13:07,331
And there's different accounts,
and there's different places
216
00:13:07,331 --> 00:13:08,973
where He expresses this truth.
217
00:13:08,973 --> 00:13:10,626
But He basically says this:
218
00:13:10,626 --> 00:13:13,332
Look, you guys, if you have an ox
219
00:13:13,332 --> 00:13:15,654
or a sheep or a son
220
00:13:15,654 --> 00:13:18,404
who falls into that pit or that well
221
00:13:18,404 --> 00:13:21,983
on the Sabbath, you'll pull him out.
222
00:13:21,983 --> 00:13:25,943
And listen to what He said.
223
00:13:25,943 --> 00:13:30,906
Is it right to do good on the Sabbath?
224
00:13:30,906 --> 00:13:32,459
What does that have to do
225
00:13:32,459 --> 00:13:34,120
with all the new Calvinism?
226
00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:35,632
It has everything.
227
00:13:35,632 --> 00:13:42,391
Brethren, this is what mattered.
228
00:13:42,391 --> 00:13:44,188
You remember the text?
229
00:13:44,188 --> 00:13:48,010
I mentioned this on Sunday.
230
00:13:48,010 --> 00:13:50,989
"This is not the way you learned Christ
231
00:13:50,989 --> 00:13:53,135
assuming that you have learned of Him
232
00:13:53,135 --> 00:13:56,037
and have heard of Him
as the truth is in Jesus."
233
00:13:56,037 --> 00:13:57,960
But think with me here.
234
00:13:57,960 --> 00:13:59,476
How do we learn Christ?
235
00:13:59,476 --> 00:14:01,766
Right from verses like these.
236
00:14:01,766 --> 00:14:03,572
And what do we learn?
237
00:14:03,572 --> 00:14:05,294
What's weighty with Him?
238
00:14:05,294 --> 00:14:06,990
What's the most important thing?
239
00:14:06,990 --> 00:14:08,853
Is the most important thing
240
00:14:08,853 --> 00:14:11,936
for you to win a battle in an argument
241
00:14:11,936 --> 00:14:14,615
on election?
242
00:14:14,615 --> 00:14:16,826
And you know what happens?
243
00:14:16,826 --> 00:14:20,784
Oftentimes, we get
exposed to these things.
244
00:14:20,784 --> 00:14:22,236
There's nobody more dangerous
245
00:14:22,236 --> 00:14:27,476
than a young "Calvinist."
246
00:14:27,476 --> 00:14:32,273
Has just come to understand
247
00:14:32,273 --> 00:14:34,546
double-predestination,
248
00:14:34,546 --> 00:14:38,815
and has had his eyes open to Romans 9,
249
00:14:38,815 --> 00:14:44,538
and goes out and bashes the family
250
00:14:44,538 --> 00:14:49,092
and just butchers
people with those things.
251
00:14:49,092 --> 00:14:53,453
Election and limited atonement.
252
00:14:53,453 --> 00:14:55,247
By the time he's done with everybody,
253
00:14:55,247 --> 00:14:57,377
he's made it seem to everybody
254
00:14:57,377 --> 00:15:02,652
like it's impossible to get to heaven.
255
00:15:02,652 --> 00:15:08,836
Whereas Jesus - think about Him.
256
00:15:08,836 --> 00:15:11,442
A leper comes to Him
257
00:15:11,442 --> 00:15:16,185
and He touches him.
258
00:15:16,185 --> 00:15:19,779
I can remember a family called me.
259
00:15:19,779 --> 00:15:22,244
They wanted to know about the church.
260
00:15:22,244 --> 00:15:26,396
And I mean, you can tell
261
00:15:26,396 --> 00:15:27,922
by the questions people ask -
262
00:15:27,922 --> 00:15:30,133
this was back when I
was manning the phone
263
00:15:30,133 --> 00:15:31,610
before James took it over.
264
00:15:31,610 --> 00:15:32,734
Somebody called,
265
00:15:32,734 --> 00:15:34,795
"Well, tell me about the church."
266
00:15:34,795 --> 00:15:37,696
And I could tell by the questions,
267
00:15:37,696 --> 00:15:40,372
it's like: Do you have Sunday school?
268
00:15:40,372 --> 00:15:42,082
Do you do this? Do you do that?
269
00:15:42,082 --> 00:15:45,239
It's like the guy's making judgments.
270
00:15:45,239 --> 00:15:47,667
And you know, in the end I said -
271
00:15:47,667 --> 00:15:50,055
and this was in the earlier years
272
00:15:50,055 --> 00:15:52,742
when we were meeting over at Fatty's -
273
00:15:52,742 --> 00:15:56,469
and I said,
274
00:15:56,469 --> 00:16:03,265
"Sir, if you're okay to have a meal
275
00:16:03,265 --> 00:16:05,367
after the service and maybe sit across
276
00:16:05,367 --> 00:16:06,683
from a prostitute,
277
00:16:06,683 --> 00:16:09,700
we're the kind of church
you want to come to.
278
00:16:09,700 --> 00:16:14,864
If that's not up your alley,
279
00:16:14,864 --> 00:16:18,702
you probably want to
look for another church."
280
00:16:18,702 --> 00:16:20,904
And he never came.
281
00:16:20,904 --> 00:16:26,428
And we're probably much better off for it.
282
00:16:26,428 --> 00:16:29,602
But this is what matters.
283
00:16:29,602 --> 00:16:33,922
Jesus wants our doctrine to be biblical,
284
00:16:33,922 --> 00:16:37,395
but with it, we need to remember
285
00:16:37,395 --> 00:16:39,169
the weighty matters.
286
00:16:39,169 --> 00:16:41,424
I've been thinking about the Moravians.
287
00:16:41,424 --> 00:16:43,335
I've been thinking about the Moravians
288
00:16:43,335 --> 00:16:45,416
for the last couple days.
289
00:16:45,416 --> 00:16:47,472
The ones that sold themselves
290
00:16:47,472 --> 00:16:50,645
to the leper colony.
291
00:16:50,645 --> 00:16:52,538
Ruby and I saw something the other day
292
00:16:52,538 --> 00:16:53,782
concerning leprosy,
293
00:16:53,782 --> 00:16:56,250
and I've just been thinking.
294
00:16:56,250 --> 00:17:00,080
They sold themselves into a leper colony
295
00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,095
where they likely were
going to get leprosy.
296
00:17:04,095 --> 00:17:06,997
You know what? That wins the world.
297
00:17:06,997 --> 00:17:10,307
Not your debate over Calvinism.
298
00:17:10,307 --> 00:17:14,382
Not getting your Ph.D.
and being mean and ugly.
299
00:17:14,382 --> 00:17:17,195
You know what melts people's hearts?
300
00:17:17,195 --> 00:17:18,955
"I will. Be clean."
301
00:17:18,955 --> 00:17:20,336
Now, we can't do that.
302
00:17:20,336 --> 00:17:25,082
We can't heal like Jesus could.
303
00:17:25,082 --> 00:17:26,757
But we could jump the wall
304
00:17:26,757 --> 00:17:33,505
and go into the leper colony.
305
00:17:33,505 --> 00:17:34,626
I'll tell you,
306
00:17:34,626 --> 00:17:39,818
that's what turns the world upside down.
307
00:17:39,818 --> 00:17:43,747
Our right theology -
308
00:17:43,747 --> 00:17:46,024
oh, Brother Andy hit it right on the head
309
00:17:46,024 --> 00:17:49,779
back in that '96 series.
310
00:17:49,779 --> 00:17:51,199
The whole reformed movement
311
00:17:51,199 --> 00:17:53,209
will just basically be a footnote
312
00:17:53,209 --> 00:17:56,071
in church history if all we have
313
00:17:56,071 --> 00:18:00,754
is just correct doctrine.
314
00:18:00,754 --> 00:18:04,609
That's not what has ever
turned the world upside down.
315
00:18:04,609 --> 00:18:05,584
It simply isn't.
316
00:18:05,584 --> 00:18:07,798
The Moravians turned
the world upside down.
317
00:18:07,798 --> 00:18:09,530
And we would say their doctrine
318
00:18:09,530 --> 00:18:13,356
probably didn't square up in some places.
319
00:18:13,356 --> 00:18:15,293
But you know they could look at us
320
00:18:15,293 --> 00:18:16,165
and they could say
321
00:18:16,165 --> 00:18:21,552
our lives don't square
up in a lot of places.
322
00:18:21,552 --> 00:18:24,072
I personally would rather
have what they had
323
00:18:24,072 --> 00:18:25,687
than have what we have
324
00:18:25,687 --> 00:18:30,255
if all it is is just the dead letter.
325
00:18:30,255 --> 00:18:32,880
I've prayed this - I've wanted this,
326
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:35,567
that God would make our church
327
00:18:35,567 --> 00:18:37,557
or maybe our circle of churches
328
00:18:37,557 --> 00:18:39,016
in this day and age
329
00:18:39,016 --> 00:18:41,136
the modern Moravian movement;
330
00:18:41,136 --> 00:18:43,116
some kind of movement of the Spirit
331
00:18:43,116 --> 00:18:47,183
that would just unleash a passion.
332
00:18:47,183 --> 00:18:53,018
Think about this.
333
00:18:53,018 --> 00:18:54,968
I mean, somebody open up
334
00:18:54,968 --> 00:19:00,938
and just begin reading 1 Corinthians 13:1.
335
00:19:00,938 --> 00:19:03,987
Just start reading there.
336
00:19:03,987 --> 00:19:06,408
Again, Brother Andy, when he was here
337
00:19:06,408 --> 00:19:11,289
and he spoke at the men's Grace House
338
00:19:11,289 --> 00:19:14,028
when it was over on Pine Street,
339
00:19:14,028 --> 00:19:19,115
he said that these verses affect him
340
00:19:19,115 --> 00:19:20,575
more than anything else.
341
00:19:20,575 --> 00:19:21,989
They should affect us too.
342
00:19:21,989 --> 00:19:24,314
And look what it's done to his life.
343
00:19:24,314 --> 00:19:26,125
He's not some cold Calvinist.
344
00:19:26,125 --> 00:19:28,958
He and his wife are giving their lives.
345
00:19:28,958 --> 00:19:31,210
This is what we want to be.
346
00:19:31,210 --> 00:19:36,878
Somebody start reading that.
347
00:19:36,878 --> 00:19:38,504
1 Corinthians 13:1.
348
00:19:38,504 --> 00:19:42,605
Just start reading real loud.
349
00:19:42,605 --> 00:19:45,980
"And yet I will show you
the most excellent way.
350
00:19:45,980 --> 00:19:48,115
If I speak in the tongues of men
351
00:19:48,115 --> 00:19:50,816
or of angels, but do not have love,
352
00:19:50,816 --> 00:19:53,043
I am only a resounding gong
353
00:19:53,043 --> 00:19:54,542
or a clanging cymbal."
354
00:19:54,542 --> 00:19:56,914
Tim: Okay, stop there.
355
00:19:56,914 --> 00:19:58,528
See how we speak?
356
00:19:58,528 --> 00:20:00,403
We stand in the pulpit and speak?
357
00:20:00,403 --> 00:20:05,338
Oh, we can perfectly articulate
358
00:20:05,338 --> 00:20:08,302
our views on the atonement
359
00:20:08,302 --> 00:20:10,556
or perfectly articulate justification
360
00:20:10,556 --> 00:20:13,691
and how it's different
from sanctification.
361
00:20:13,691 --> 00:20:16,591
But listen to what Paul's saying.
362
00:20:16,591 --> 00:20:18,115
You see, this goes right along
363
00:20:18,115 --> 00:20:19,546
with what Jesus was saying.
364
00:20:19,546 --> 00:20:21,546
What are the weighty matters?
365
00:20:21,546 --> 00:20:25,776
As we refine our doctrine,
366
00:20:25,776 --> 00:20:30,627
we need to see such glorious views of God
367
00:20:30,627 --> 00:20:34,156
that at the same time are producing
368
00:20:34,156 --> 00:20:38,187
such fruit in our own lives,
369
00:20:38,187 --> 00:20:41,005
and if it doesn't, it's worthless.
370
00:20:41,005 --> 00:20:43,806
And the thing is, we can
try to convince ourselves -
371
00:20:43,806 --> 00:20:48,005
it's almost like we think,
372
00:20:48,005 --> 00:20:51,132
well, we have come to understand truth
373
00:20:51,132 --> 00:20:54,038
that other people have
not come to understand,
374
00:20:54,038 --> 00:20:57,837
and therefore that automatically
375
00:20:57,837 --> 00:21:00,493
guarantees a blessing.
376
00:21:00,493 --> 00:21:06,769
That automatically guarantees success.
377
00:21:06,769 --> 00:21:09,515
Brethren, I can remember
378
00:21:09,515 --> 00:21:12,134
when our church first started
379
00:21:12,134 --> 00:21:14,494
and I was considering joining
380
00:21:14,494 --> 00:21:18,218
a Reformed Baptist Association
381
00:21:18,218 --> 00:21:21,905
that operates in the United States
382
00:21:21,905 --> 00:21:26,132
and abroad.
383
00:21:26,132 --> 00:21:30,732
And you know, as I examined it,
384
00:21:30,732 --> 00:21:34,494
do you what I began to realize?
385
00:21:34,494 --> 00:21:41,419
I began to realize that the missionaries -
386
00:21:41,419 --> 00:21:45,644
every single missionary
387
00:21:45,644 --> 00:21:49,550
being sent out by this
reformed Baptist association,
388
00:21:49,550 --> 00:21:52,093
every one of them at that time
389
00:21:52,093 --> 00:21:53,750
when I was assessing it,
390
00:21:53,750 --> 00:21:58,308
every one of them were saved
391
00:21:58,308 --> 00:22:00,674
in other circles;
392
00:22:00,674 --> 00:22:02,068
every single one of them
393
00:22:02,068 --> 00:22:05,601
got their missionary burden
394
00:22:05,601 --> 00:22:08,045
in other circles,
395
00:22:08,045 --> 00:22:09,762
and then at some point,
396
00:22:09,762 --> 00:22:11,723
came to the doctrines of grace
397
00:22:11,723 --> 00:22:13,719
and joined this.
398
00:22:13,719 --> 00:22:16,609
And one of the guys that
was trying to recruit me,
399
00:22:16,609 --> 00:22:20,637
he asked about joining and I asked him,
400
00:22:20,637 --> 00:22:24,298
doesn't it bother you
401
00:22:24,298 --> 00:22:26,006
that the movement is not producing
402
00:22:26,006 --> 00:22:27,884
its own missionaries?
403
00:22:27,884 --> 00:22:29,287
They're all transplants.
404
00:22:29,287 --> 00:22:32,786
They all come from somewhere else.
405
00:22:32,786 --> 00:22:37,511
Why is that fruit not coming
out of our churches?
406
00:22:37,511 --> 00:22:39,413
He said, "no, that doesn't bother me.
407
00:22:39,413 --> 00:22:41,303
I think we should give ourselves more
408
00:22:41,303 --> 00:22:43,220
to printing books anyways."
409
00:22:43,220 --> 00:22:45,390
I thought I don't like that.
410
00:22:45,390 --> 00:22:48,353
I want to be part of circles
411
00:22:48,353 --> 00:22:50,371
where the Spirit of God is saving,
412
00:22:50,371 --> 00:22:52,242
and where the Spirit of God
413
00:22:52,242 --> 00:22:54,054
is putting His hand on men and women
414
00:22:54,054 --> 00:22:56,943
and burdening them
with a passion for souls.
415
00:22:56,943 --> 00:22:59,729
I don't want this dead Calvinism.
416
00:22:59,729 --> 00:23:06,979
I don't want it.
417
00:23:06,979 --> 00:23:10,738
But I mean, we need this.
418
00:23:10,738 --> 00:23:14,564
Keep reading now.
419
00:23:14,564 --> 00:23:17,007
"If I have the gift of prophecy
420
00:23:17,007 --> 00:23:18,875
and can fathom all mysteries
421
00:23:18,875 --> 00:23:20,569
and all knowledge,
422
00:23:20,569 --> 00:23:23,434
and if I have a faith
that can move mountains,
423
00:23:23,434 --> 00:23:26,656
but do not have love, I am nothing.
424
00:23:26,656 --> 00:23:29,216
If I give all I possess to the poor,
425
00:23:29,216 --> 00:23:31,485
and give over my body to hardship
426
00:23:31,485 --> 00:23:33,977
that I may boast, but do not have love,
427
00:23:33,977 --> 00:23:36,083
I gain nothing.
428
00:23:36,083 --> 00:23:38,080
Love is patient, love is kind..."
429
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,778
Tim: Okay, that's far enough.
430
00:23:40,778 --> 00:23:46,724
But you think about,
431
00:23:46,724 --> 00:23:49,151
like I think of 1 Timothy.
432
00:23:49,151 --> 00:23:52,862
Somebody open to 1 Timothy 1.
433
00:23:52,862 --> 00:23:56,036
Maybe about verse 5.
434
00:23:56,036 --> 00:23:59,143
And read that text.
435
00:23:59,143 --> 00:24:02,802
1 Timothy 1:5.
436
00:24:02,802 --> 00:24:05,848
The aim...
437
00:24:05,848 --> 00:24:07,465
"The aim of our charge is love
438
00:24:07,465 --> 00:24:09,107
that issues from a pure heart
439
00:24:09,107 --> 00:24:10,524
and a good conscience
440
00:24:10,524 --> 00:24:11,677
and a sincere faith."
441
00:24:11,677 --> 00:24:12,584
Tim: Notice that.
442
00:24:12,584 --> 00:24:14,542
And another text I think a lot about
443
00:24:14,542 --> 00:24:16,544
is Galatians 5:6.
444
00:24:16,544 --> 00:24:19,983
Circumcision is nothing.
Uncircumcision is nothing.
445
00:24:19,983 --> 00:24:25,397
But what's everything?
446
00:24:25,397 --> 00:24:28,236
Faith working through love.
447
00:24:28,236 --> 00:24:32,940
That's everything.
448
00:24:32,940 --> 00:24:40,953
Brethren, a lot of you
449
00:24:40,953 --> 00:24:44,862
are the young Calvinists.
450
00:24:44,862 --> 00:24:47,952
But look, if we properly learn Christ,
451
00:24:47,952 --> 00:24:50,395
this is what we need.
452
00:24:50,395 --> 00:24:54,315
See, I was thinking today.
453
00:24:54,315 --> 00:25:02,403
Wow, John Sytsma has like 15 years on me.
454
00:25:02,403 --> 00:25:06,086
I thought you know he could outlive me,
455
00:25:06,086 --> 00:25:08,219
but I thought,
456
00:25:08,219 --> 00:25:12,227
I'm probably going to see John's funeral.
457
00:25:12,227 --> 00:25:16,107
Who's going to replace him?
458
00:25:16,107 --> 00:25:18,247
Who's then going to run all over the world
459
00:25:18,247 --> 00:25:19,970
and run to Iraq and run to Nepal
460
00:25:19,970 --> 00:25:25,221
and run to India and
run to the Philippines?
461
00:25:25,221 --> 00:25:29,690
Who's coming along?
462
00:25:29,690 --> 00:25:32,234
Who's going to have the love?
463
00:25:32,234 --> 00:25:34,215
What about when Sam Pitrone's gone?
464
00:25:34,215 --> 00:25:37,025
What about when Andy's gone?
465
00:25:37,025 --> 00:25:45,452
Who's going to go to these places then?
466
00:25:45,452 --> 00:25:49,966
And the Moravians are gone.
467
00:25:49,966 --> 00:25:51,270
The leper colonies.
468
00:25:51,270 --> 00:25:52,605
I was hearing just today -
469
00:25:52,605 --> 00:25:58,718
my wife had Platt preaching
470
00:25:58,718 --> 00:26:02,579
who's now leading in the
Southern Baptist Convention.
471
00:26:02,579 --> 00:26:05,164
What's his position?
472
00:26:05,164 --> 00:26:08,803
He's the president of (the mission board).
473
00:26:08,803 --> 00:26:11,193
And basically that thing operates -
474
00:26:11,193 --> 00:26:14,669
I think his goal is for the
missionary aspect of it.
475
00:26:14,669 --> 00:26:16,613
And he was talking about Africa
476
00:26:16,613 --> 00:26:19,941
being one of the least reached.
477
00:26:19,941 --> 00:26:21,758
Randy Pisino is going over there
478
00:26:21,758 --> 00:26:23,816
4 or 5 times a year, but when he's gone,
479
00:26:23,816 --> 00:26:30,027
who's going to go then?
480
00:26:30,027 --> 00:26:31,484
Africa.
481
00:26:31,484 --> 00:26:37,150
You know a lot of English
speaking people in Africa.
482
00:26:37,150 --> 00:26:38,531
A lot.
483
00:26:38,531 --> 00:26:43,669
I cannot get out of my mind Haiti.
484
00:26:43,669 --> 00:26:47,003
Haiti.
485
00:26:47,003 --> 00:26:49,320
We went up through those mountains
486
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:57,261
preaching the Gospel.
487
00:26:57,261 --> 00:26:59,713
But here it is.
488
00:26:59,713 --> 00:27:01,322
"Is it okay to appear rather mean
489
00:27:01,322 --> 00:27:03,121
and unloving while being a Christian
490
00:27:03,121 --> 00:27:06,526
who identifies as a Calvinist?"
491
00:27:06,526 --> 00:27:09,080
I mean, just the things we've considered.
492
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,353
Of course it's not.
493
00:27:11,353 --> 00:27:13,824
It's not just not being mean.
494
00:27:13,824 --> 00:27:18,506
It's not just articulating
the right doctrine.
495
00:27:18,506 --> 00:27:23,349
Because if we do that
but we don't have love,
496
00:27:23,349 --> 00:27:26,168
I'll tell you, judgment day's
going to sift all that out.
497
00:27:26,168 --> 00:27:28,875
And the right doctrine is not -
498
00:27:28,875 --> 00:27:29,929
think about it.
499
00:27:29,929 --> 00:27:31,540
Jesus never once -
500
00:27:31,540 --> 00:27:34,854
Matthew 25 ought to stand before our eyes
501
00:27:34,854 --> 00:27:36,059
all the time.
502
00:27:36,059 --> 00:27:37,578
He never once says,
503
00:27:37,578 --> 00:27:41,147
"You were a Calvinist."
504
00:27:41,147 --> 00:27:44,764
"Good job."
505
00:27:44,764 --> 00:27:48,894
Think about everything that He says.
506
00:27:48,894 --> 00:27:51,172
"I was hungry."
507
00:27:51,172 --> 00:27:53,453
"I was thirsty."
508
00:27:53,453 --> 00:27:55,482
"I was naked."
509
00:27:55,482 --> 00:27:57,716
"I was a stranger."
510
00:27:57,716 --> 00:28:02,084
"I was sick."
511
00:28:02,084 --> 00:28:07,754
Listen, religion that
is pure and undefiled -
512
00:28:07,754 --> 00:28:10,399
it's visiting the widow and the orphan
513
00:28:10,399 --> 00:28:12,746
in their affliction.
514
00:28:12,746 --> 00:28:17,620
That's what Jesus is recognizing.
515
00:28:17,620 --> 00:28:19,655
Jesus said, "Follow Me."
516
00:28:19,655 --> 00:28:22,417
He put His hand on the leper.
517
00:28:22,417 --> 00:28:31,260
The Moravians put their hands on lepers.
518
00:28:31,260 --> 00:28:35,756
But this is the Calvinism that we want.
519
00:28:35,756 --> 00:28:42,701
This is what William Carey broke out of.
520
00:28:42,701 --> 00:28:45,246
He broke out of the dead
521
00:28:45,246 --> 00:28:51,337
and dying churches of 18th century
522
00:28:51,337 --> 00:28:54,177
hyper-Calvinism.
523
00:28:54,177 --> 00:28:57,588
And he broke out into India.
524
00:28:57,588 --> 00:28:59,280
And others went with him.
525
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:00,909
And a handful of those churches
526
00:29:00,909 --> 00:29:03,682
caught the fire.
527
00:29:03,682 --> 00:29:06,012
Spurgeon.
528
00:29:06,012 --> 00:29:07,750
A burden for souls.
529
00:29:07,750 --> 00:29:13,101
Oh, he could preach
the doctrines of grace.
530
00:29:13,101 --> 00:29:19,658
But he had a love for the souls of men.
531
00:29:19,658 --> 00:29:25,799
Young, restless, and reformed.
532
00:29:25,799 --> 00:29:28,936
I don't know. That makes
me think of a soap opera.
533
00:29:28,936 --> 00:29:30,340
"The Young and the Restless"
534
00:29:30,340 --> 00:29:31,650
that my grandmother watched
535
00:29:31,650 --> 00:29:33,348
when I was a kid.
536
00:29:33,348 --> 00:29:35,491
Young and the restless.
537
00:29:35,491 --> 00:29:39,204
Restless doesn't sound good.
538
00:29:39,204 --> 00:29:44,042
Young? That's okay.
539
00:29:44,042 --> 00:29:45,927
But I think we need to be
540
00:29:45,927 --> 00:29:49,889
young and purposeful
541
00:29:49,889 --> 00:29:53,835
and holding to good doctrine.
542
00:29:53,835 --> 00:29:58,638
(Incomplete thought)
543
00:29:58,638 --> 00:30:01,850
You think about it.
544
00:30:01,850 --> 00:30:05,533
You know, if you're the two Moravians
545
00:30:05,533 --> 00:30:09,502
that jumped the wall
into the leper colony;
546
00:30:09,502 --> 00:30:12,116
or you're the guy on the ship
547
00:30:12,116 --> 00:30:14,681
that sails away out of Copenhagen Harbor
548
00:30:14,681 --> 00:30:17,847
and goes to the Caribbean never to return,
549
00:30:17,847 --> 00:30:20,458
you know you kind of
have your moment of glory
550
00:30:20,458 --> 00:30:23,304
as you're pulling out of the
harbor, and you say the words
551
00:30:23,304 --> 00:30:25,603
that get immortalized,
552
00:30:25,603 --> 00:30:27,002
but then you're forgotten.
553
00:30:27,002 --> 00:30:28,589
I mean, we know who they were.
554
00:30:28,589 --> 00:30:30,365
We can put names to them.
555
00:30:30,365 --> 00:30:32,682
But you kind of jump the wall,
556
00:30:32,682 --> 00:30:35,839
and the glory's kind of over.
557
00:30:35,839 --> 00:30:38,492
You know? Yes, charge!
558
00:30:38,492 --> 00:30:40,700
And you go in there, and what is it?
559
00:30:40,700 --> 00:30:47,875
Day after day among the lepers.
560
00:30:47,875 --> 00:30:49,765
And they're dying and they stink
561
00:30:49,765 --> 00:30:51,336
and they're repulsive
562
00:30:51,336 --> 00:30:54,083
and you're probably going to catch it,
563
00:30:54,083 --> 00:30:56,418
and you're in that all the time
564
00:30:56,418 --> 00:30:59,161
and there's no vacations
and you don't go out
565
00:30:59,161 --> 00:31:01,328
and you basically live all your days there
566
00:31:01,328 --> 00:31:04,792
and you preach the Gospel.
567
00:31:04,792 --> 00:31:06,825
The Lord will be with you
568
00:31:06,825 --> 00:31:09,597
and He'll give you joy.
569
00:31:09,597 --> 00:31:13,072
And He'll uphold you and keep you going,
570
00:31:13,072 --> 00:31:15,440
and in the end, there's great reward.
571
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:20,706
But there's not a lot of glamour here.
572
00:31:20,706 --> 00:31:22,074
Most of what He calls us to
573
00:31:22,074 --> 00:31:31,925
isn't out on the platform
under the bright lights.
574
00:31:31,925 --> 00:31:35,274
So, who's ready to go?
575
00:31:35,274 --> 00:31:39,086
And the going doesn't just mean Africa.
576
00:31:39,086 --> 00:31:41,729
It may mean just out here
577
00:31:41,729 --> 00:31:43,177
in these neighborhoods.
578
00:31:43,177 --> 00:31:46,432
It may mean - who knows what it may mean?